"Howdy Folks"I have been telling you that I have a
lot to tell you about the 4 Deer herds that we have in and around
Caledonia. Below I will give you a graph showing how I have cut
Caledonia into 4 quadrants and explain to you about each Deer herd and
their satellite groups respectfully.

First, I will explain about area
#1, the North-West quadrant. This area has the most mature Bucks of any.
This is mostly due to the fact that the land owners have it posted and
have a Deer management program in use. Only select older bucks are taken
out of the herd during the hunting season. There are a lot of does, and
of these there are a lot of 2-3 year ones. A lot of fawns were lost to
predators in this area, mainly the coyote. We have at least 3 coyote
dens being used this year. This area has a satellite group using the
Spring Street area, including the Mackay Park, because of the water of
the Oatka Creek. Water is a problem in all of the areas because of the
drought.

Our second area, #2, the
North-East quadrant has a lot of immature bucks and small does. Most
does had 2 fawns and a lot of these are not of any size. Land is posted
in this area but hunters are not selective in their taking of Deer
during the hunting season. Coyotes, again are a problem with the fawns.
The Deer herd is of good size, so over-browsing has a lot to do with the
health and quality of the bucks. There is a satellite group that visits
the Wheatland Center Road area, again to get to water.

The next area, #3 South-East
quadrant does not have as large a herd as the rest. Water is a problem
and so is cover for them to hide. A lot of this land is open-fields thus
keeping the Deer herd active only at night. The bucks are of good size
and so are the does. If you want to be rewarded with a nice buck, you
have to go into the heavy woods and swamp and push them around. There
are no satellite groups to speak of, because of the open land. After the
first shot is fired, during hunting season, most head back into the
cover of the big woods and swamp

The last area, #4, the South-West
quadrant has a little of everything. The bucks are of all sizes, we have
a lot of does, both big and small. The fawns have had a problem with not
only the coyotes but also with all the roads that are in the area. There
are a lot of wood lots on posted farms for cover and lots of browse
nearby. Select hunting is not practiced in this area, but the larger
bucks wise up very quickly and are hard to hunt.

So that about sums up the
Caledonia Deer herd condition. Please do not forget, it is not legal to
hunt in the Village of Caledonia. Gun or bow are not allowed to be used
within the village limits. If you are lucky enough to have a place in
the town to hunt, you should have a very good year this year. Just make
sure that you have that all important permission.

One last thing that I ask of you
hunters, most of you will have more than enough doe permits, in the
process of shooting a doe, please take that 2-3 year old animal. This
way you are practicing good herd management and not shooting that Buck
of the Future, because it looks like a doe.